Whether you’re buying prefinished planks or finishing new hardwood planks yourself, you need to choose how they’re going to be finished. There are several different levels of luster that you can choose from. In layman’s terms, that is a determination of how shiny your floor will be. There are advantages and disadvantages to every kind of luster level. Some are easier to keep looking nice and others are more difficult, for example. Here is a quick rundown of the pros and cons.

High Luster

Anything with a high luster will look very sleek and very modern. It’s a very contemporary style that wasn’t even possible in floors in decades past. The floor will look very formal as well. If you want your house to look picturesque and ornate, then a high luster floor will help you do that. It will look more like the receiving rooms and foyers of nice hotels. Those are the pros.

The cons are the upkeep. You will need to clean your high luster floors regularly because a high luster will show every scuff and scratch. That’s because high luster means that it reflects more light. Therefore, the scratch will look more dynamic and deeper. Furthermore, dust and dirt will be more noticeable because they will not reflect light.

Low Luster

A low luster hardwood floor is going to be much easier to keep clean. The floor will not reflect a lot of light; therefore, scratches will not show up readily, nor will dust. However, it will also be slightly more difficult to keep the floor looking clean. That’s because many people associate a shine with cleanliness. If the floor isn’t shiny, it might not look clean to some people. If you try to shine a low luster floor, you’ll likely just wear down the finish faster.

Middle Ground

The compromise between high luster and low luster could be a semi-gloss or a satin. Satin and semi-gloss are fairly moderate positions you could choose from. Typically, semi-gloss is near the middle but slightly on the side of gloss. Satin is in the middle but slightly on the side of matte. Either one of those will help you balance the benefits of high luster with the benefits of low luster. They’ll look fairly clean and modern while still hiding some dust and scratches. Furthermore, they’ll be easy to clean and make look clean.

Try out several different lusters on small areas before deciding on one.